Abstract
Emergency Contraception (EC) is used within a few days of unprotected sex to prevent an unintended pregnancy. About one quarter of pregnancies in south of Iran are unintended. EC is important option that women can use after unprotected sex or contraceptive failure for preventing of unplanned pregnancies and adverse maternal and perinatal health outcomes. Health staff have influence on women’s contraceptive behavior and their knowledge and attitudes about EC can affect women’s contraceptive behaviors. Data are lacking about the knowledge, attitude and practice of hormonal EC method among health staff in Bushehr state, south of Iran. A cross-sectional study using self administered questionnaire was conducted. A sample of 170 health staff were surveyed. The mean age of respondents was 30.6±5.1. Overall 6.5% of participants had poor knowledge, 25.2% moderate knowledge, 68.3% good knowledge about EC. Half of participants had positive and half had negative attitude towards the EC method. Midwives and family health workers were more knowledgeable (p<0.05) and more frequently counseled women about EC than general practitioners (GPs) (p<0.001). The most cited reason for EC prescriptions were rupture condom and none use of contraception. Our findings showed despite of majority of health staff had good knowledge about EC, their knowledge about the indications for prescription of EC and its side effects was inadequate. The educational efforts for health staff should be focused more on the specific aspects of EC method. GPs also should be more involved in family planning program.
Highlights
Emergency Contraception (EC) is a back-up method of contraceptive which women can use within the first few days after unprotected intercourse to prevent an unwanted pregnancy
Data are lacking about the knowledge, attitude and practice of hormonal EC method among health staff in Bushehr state, south of Iran
We found that 31% of general practitioners (GPs), 51% of midwives and 45% of family health workers correctly answered that EC method could be used in cases with delay in injectable contraceptive methods
Summary
Emergency Contraception (EC) is a back-up method of contraceptive which women can use within the first few days after unprotected intercourse to prevent an unwanted pregnancy. Two common methods of hormonal EC include the Yuzpe regimen and plan B. Yuzpe regimen consists of the administration of two doses of combined oral contraceptive pills (each dose containing 100 μg of ethinyl estradiol and 1mg norgestrel) taken 12 hours apart but within 72 hours of the unprotected sex (Yuzpe & Lancee, 1977). Plan B is recommended by World Health Organization. It consists of 1.5 mg levonorgestrel as a single dose alone (World Health Organization, 2005). These pills can be used as EC pills: a special EC product with the progestin levonorgestrel, EC product with estrogen and levonorgestrel, and Combined Oral Contraceptives (OCPs) (WHO, 2007)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
